“It’s much more than that.”
Her furrowed brow smoothed with realization, and her mouth parted. “You?”
“Yes.”
“The prophecy.” Elfie sank onto one of the chairs and rested her hands on the table as she stared at them for a minute. “She can’t die, Cole.”
“I know.”
“No.” When she lifted her head to meet his gaze, her eyes were more white than blue. “If the legends are true, and if she dies, what you will do will make the Lord look like he’s been kind to us all.”
“I couldneverbe like him.”
Elfie looked past him to the shadows. “Life has a way of changing us all.”
Cole wasn’t sure how to reply, but when Elfie’s eyes returned to him, distress radiated from them.
“But then, you already know that,” she said.
Shadows danced along Cole’s fingers as they sought to break free. “Stay safe, Elfie.”
He turned toward the door, but her next words froze him. “If anyone can control it, Cole, it’s you. I’ve always sensed the vast power in you, which is probably why the shadows chose you, but they’ll eat you alive if you let them take control.”
“It’s a good thing I won’t let that happen. You and the others should leave here, Elfie.”
“I will do my best to see they understand that. I might be able to get you some help.” When Cole quirked an eyebrow at her, she held up a hand. “I understand the rest of the realms look down on us, but we didn’t refuse to fight because we’re cowards. We simply don’t believe in war.
“But the Lord cannot be allowed to continue like this, and with the revelation of a living arach, we have hope of someone who can handle the throne taking it. Without her, we’d only replace one madman or woman with another. That could make a big difference with the others.”
“Send me word if you can.”
“I will. Until we meet again, Cole.”
“Until then.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
“That didn’t workout as well as I hoped,” Kaylia said as they returned to the prison realm.
Lexi refused to let her disappointment show. They had more details about what she could do, maybe not all of them, but they were making progress.
She could heal. If she could figure out how to do it, she could help others.
Just one more possibility to add to the list of them.
“I can heal others,” she murmured. “Somehow.”
“We will figure it out,” Kaylia stated.
“Yes, we will,” Cole said as he slid his arm around her waist. “Until then, I think you could use a break.”
“We can’t take a break,” Lexi said, though the idea of one was so appealing she almost sat in the middle of the hallway to rest her legs. “We still have more realms to visit and more immortals to try to recruit. There are too many lives on the line for us to take a break now. Besides, we have taken a break; we should have already gone to the witch realm.”
“We will get there soon, but we could all use some food.”
Lexi’s stomach betrayed her by growling…loudly. Cole chuckled as he nudged her. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”
She considered arguing some more but decided against it when her stomach rumbled again. They made their way through the stark corridors of the prison with its broken inmates and awful stench of despair.
